SB Nation Blog: Turkmenbashi

Tribe @ CWS June 30 - July 2

Turkmenbashi — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:23:50 -0000

Hey all --

Just wanted to let the Chicago LGT crowd know I'm gonna be up in Chitown for the next Indians/Sux series. I'll be there for the whole week, so I'm flexible and can go to any/all of the three games. I'd love to meet up with Brick and the boyz for a few beers and dogs and a game, so let me know if you're interested. I'm thinking by then, we should be poised for a nice series sweep to take over the Central.

Progressive Field Ranked Best Stadium in MLB by SI

Turkmenbashi — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:15:56 -0000

Results of a survey by SI. Probably totally irrelevant, since it was an unscientific poll of a team's own fans.

Tribe/Yanks 4-26

Turkmenbashi — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:55:11 -0000

Hey all --

Just wanted to let you know that John and I will be making the trek back home from the Nation's capital to see the Tribe stomp some Yankee behind on Saturday the 26th. We don't have tickets yet, but with the way attendance has been, we should be able to get them at the gate. This leaves open the perfect opportunity for an LGT walk-up get together. Anyone interested? If not for the game, perhaps for some brews at Great Lakes before and/or after the game? Just throwin' it out there.

Return of the Cleveland Blues?

Turkmenbashi — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:27:09 -0000

Welcome to our Guests

This is Jay, one of your hosts. I’d like to welcome anyone who may be visiting here, linked from Rob Neyer’s blog on ESPN. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it here and stick around, be a part of our community.

This is a community of Cleveland Indians fans. We’re interested in everyone’s opinions, and we love having guests. But we do expect guests to be good guests. There is no trolling permitted on this site – as you’ll see if you register. So if you’re thinking about registering just to leave one obnoxious remark here, don’t bother. It will be deleted within minutes, possibly seconds.

This particular thread involves a sensitive subject. Feel free to jump in, but we expect you to show the same courtesy and judgment you’d have when visiting someone’s home for the first time. This a fairly thoughtful community. As long as you express yourself respectfully, you’ll get along fine.

Below this box is the original article that brought you here ... enjoy!

Don't mean to be misleading with the title... there are no such plans in the works. It's just that recently I've been thinking about the Tribe's Chief Wahoo conundrum quite a bit. I think it was ignited by my roommate's brother trading in his birthday present (a Nationals cap) for a Yankees cap. I asked him "why not a Tribe cap?" and in short, he responded that he didn't agree with Chief Wahoo (he is of Native American ancestry). He isn't vehemently anti-Cleveland, just wouldn't feel comfortable about wearing the Chief.

So I was hoping we could have a discussion about something without sparking a rash of vitriol. What could we call the Indians if we dropped the Chief (and therefore, logically, the entire name)?

For most people, the issue with getting rid of the Chief is tradition. It is our team's identity. Our city's identity. What would happen if New York got rid of the crooked "NY" or Detroit the old English "D"? Just wouldn't seem right, would it? So for me the challenge would be to find an identity with some sort of tradition. I think we can all agree that the worst possible thing would be to rename the team something "modern" and inevitably cheesy (cough, RAYS, cough) and deck ourselves out in spiffy new duds that look like they were designed by 15 year-old extreme sports fans strung out on Red Bull (cough, "D-Backs," cough).

So where does that leave us?

Spiders? No thanks, I'll avoid the constant reminders of the worst team ever as well as the heightened possibility of cheesy marketing.

Broncos? Never seen one in Cleveland.

Forest Cities? Um... Nothing strikes fear into the heart of opponents like trees.

Naps? Just no.

Blues? Bingo! I feel like there are tons of benefits to this choice, namely:

It's traditional in that the team actually used to exist, but it really is neutral in terms of the memories it evokes. There's no stigma like "worst team ever" and no history of dominance that would lead to unreasonable expectations or seem arrogant.
It's simple and elegant. Caps could be adorned with a simple "CB" or separate "C" and "B" caps for different occasions.
It plays in perfectly to the Cleveland/Cinci intrastate rivalry. Reds vs. Blues? tell me that's not a great marketing opportunity!

So what do you guys think? Again, I'd prefer if this thread didn' t turn into a dumping ground for Chief Wahoo gripes and that we just discuss the Blues idea.

Remember that Yankees game last year?

Turkmenbashi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:53:51 -0000

I think we all need to be reminded it's not the end of the world.

Nationals Ballpark

Turkmenbashi — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:11:20 -0000

Hey all -- made my first trip to Nationals Ballpark yesterday and I thought I'd share a few things. First off, it is lightyears better than RFK. Everything about the park, from the vantage points to the amenities, beats sitting in that cold, concrete, Soviet cosmodrome.

Anyway, we got cheap seats, which are still a good deal for $10 and since they still can't get anyone to go to the games, you pretty much have free roam over the whole field. The actual makeup of the ballpark is interesting... my favorite aspect of it is the large amount on "common area" inside the park, reminiscent of Eutaw street at Camden. there's just lots of space and, ostensibly, there will be lots of stuff to do there in the future.

The food is good, if a bit pricey. A chicken finger basket (with three chicken fingers), a side order of fries and a souvenir-sized pop cost me an even Jackson. But the selection is pretty impressive, as is the quality of the food. Ben's Chili Bowl's famous chili half-smokes can be had at nearly every hot dog stand. There are of course ballpark standards like dogs, pizza, sausage (at a stand called Senators Sausages... tee hee!), pretzels, etc. There's even a stand that sells exclusively gluten-free products, which excited my girlfriend to no end because she was able to eat the first soft pretzel she's had since discovering her wheat allergy. there is an assortment of beer and liquor/mixed drinks to be had, but alcohol will bankrupt you ($7.50 for a standard beer!).

Overall, it was a fun experience. Would have been better if it was so terribly cold last night. The ballpark is very conveniently located off the Navy Yard Metro stop (for those of you familiar with DC) and much more welcoming in that sense than RFK. The city is planning on really developing the area on the bank of the Anacostia, and Nationals Park should be a good keystone. There are some cool architectural features, though the place is a bit generic. Great big scoreboard... nice stat displays on the marquees. The only thing I question in the luxury restaurant section in center field, dubbed "The Red Porch" and decorated with padded red chairs in contrast to the other 30-some thousand blue chairs. It's a striking contrast, plus "Red Porch?" This is the nation's capital, people, not Communist Russia!

I'll try to add some pictures later if I get a chance.

Tigers drop to 0-4

Turkmenbashi — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:33:24 -0000

I know karma can be a bitch, but I can't help reveling in the schadenfreude here

B Pro in DC

Turkmenbashi — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:56:18 -0000

Turk: Hey all. So Jhon and I attended a round table/Q&A this past Tuesday presented by the Baseball Prospectus folks over at the Politics & Prose cafe/bookstore in DC. We meant to post earlier but got caught up with a few other things. Hopes this is still somewhat interesting.

Jhon: It was a standing room only crowd gathered at Politics & Prose to listen to a presentation of a New York Times bestseller by several of its authors. Oprah Winfrey recently endorsed The Baseball Prospectus Annual and the damned thing just took off.

The roster of recent speakers at Politics & Prose bookstore includes some very distinguished names. Add Clay Davenport, Jay Jaffe, and Steven Goldman to the list, B Pro writers who spoke about the latest addition to the series. This release was previously discussed in Andrew (afh4's) diary.

Turk: One more note about the crowd: I had worn an argyle sweater/collared shirt combo to work that day and rushed home before going to this to change into my Carmona shirt and spiffy new C cap so I didn't look like a d-bag. To my (non) surprise, there were no less than three folks in the crowd sporting the argyle/collared shirt combo. Two of them were Red Sox fans. Make of that what you will.

Jhon: That new "C" cap of yours looks pretty slick. Red Sox caps were the mode, but it was a pretty diverse fanscene. That's the thing with DC, nearly everybody here is from elsewhere. Anyone who shows up at an event like this is a total baseball junkie, so those Sox fans and those Yankee fans are kindred spirits.

Think it's rough being a Tribe fan, Turk? One guy there was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. Notice his ersatz uniform? They literally haven't won anything in decades.

Turk: As for the main event, there was nothing really earth-shattering, at least not to us savvy "in-the-know" baseball folk. They basically discussed their rational, scientific approach to baseball and how it can apply to everyday life, personal relationships, work, etc (with tongues placed firmly in their collective cheek).

The part I enjoyed the most was Goldman's comments about the steroid "scandal." He presented easily the most rational argument I had heard in regards to the situation and in response to some criticism BP has taken for not delving more deeply into the issue. He basically said that what they do is scientfic in nature and thus far, there has been little proof that PEDs enhance things like eyesight and reaction time let alone specific baseball skills. Until somebody can test a field of ten all-stars in a double-blind study for ten years, it isn't likely that there will be conclusive evidence on the subject and until then, it's not BP's place to discuss the topic. Two quotes to take away from Goldman on the topic: "Most guys that juiced were bad baseball players before they took anything and bad baseball players after they took something." Also! "We're not going to join the witch hunt until we know what we're hunting the witches for!"

The highlight of my night was talking to Jay Jaffe one-on-one (though John joined later). I asked him about our infield situation re: Marte and Peralta's week defense (which he had brought up in reference to Carmona's extreme groundball tendencies while answering one of John's questions). He was leary about the prospect of moving Peralta to third because of not only some loss in positional value but also the uncertainty of barfield's ability to play 2B. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but cool to hear from one of the experts. He also seemed very high on Cabrera's defense, which was nice to hear, and said that one of the Indians' biggest strength is clearly their depth. Awesome guy. Forgot to ask him if he was this guy's brother.

Jhon: Steven's anecdote about the NY Times reporters regarding steroids was revealing. Their writers approached Steven wanting to know what evidence of PED use can be identified in game data. When he answered that there wasn't any such evidence, that even in Bonds' case it's hard to tell beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were quantifiably benefiting from a stimulus, the Times writers weren't having it. They already had their conclusion, and just couldn't accept what they were being told. They were referred on down the line of B Pro contributors without getting an answer that satisfied their core thesis. The B Pro writers didn't contradict each other, because the data is unchanging, and a rational appreciation of the numbers is their technique.
Because of this basic ethic their staff is able to function in a seemingly autonomous way and still harmonize. Their clique is a lot like LGT, I think, not the monolith that some have portrayed them. Clay is the stats junkie, Steven the self-proclaimed `Liberal arts' guy (Turk: the patriarch; BP's Jay?), Goldstein's more of an economist, and Jaffe's sort of a hybrid.

Turk: Take that Morissey! PECOTA IS PEOPLE!

Jhon: True. Even their stats guy Clay was comfortable behind the mic. He could teach me a few things about public speaking, for sure. At Turk's prodding I managed to prolong the Q&A session while the pizza and beer regressed to the mean room temperature.

Turk: John's being hard on himself here. It was a solid question. Better than the Yankees fan who used the word "struck" no less than ten times in his scene-stealing inquiry.

Jhon: You're right about that Yankees fan. His was pretty rude. He accused them of placing too much emphasis on the construction of metrics. Clay was puzzled. I'm paraphrasing, but his response was something like, "what's the alternative? Pointing out the fact that so-and-so's the first player to hit 30 HRs and bat .3something with so many RBIs? Arbitrary statistical benchmarks just aren't interesting." This was clearly a case of Jeter-centrism.

Turk: Sorry to interject... I doubt Clay meant it this way, but I gladly took this as a knock on Granderson's 20-20-20-20-20-20-20-20-whatever season and the media hullabaloo that induced.

Jhon: Another guy basically asked them for a job, which probably happens at every stop. He took the time to complain that his current work sucked and he has applied analytical talent, but the BP response was gracious: if you have an original and compelling idea(s), the bar for entry isn't as prohibitive as you might think.

I took the opportunity to express an appreciation for Keith Woolner, musing that he'd be our secret weapon in squeezing a couple of wins beyond the theoretical 89 they're projecting. It was my way of asking for a clarification as to what he's really up to in the Tribe's FO. Steven replied, "Have you seen Keith Woolner? He has, uhh, a beautiful mind". Sounds like LGT Jay's right, that he doesn't leave the stat cave too often. Goldman added that they're really proud to have graduated him.

A couple people approached us afterwards to share the Cleveland connection. Chuck's long-lost brother approached us with scattered thoughts on the Tigers, the parking situation at the new Nationals stadium, and Addie Joss, of course.

Turk: This guy was a riot. He approached us, the two Indians fans in the crowd, out of nowhere and immediately engaged in a conversation that was above and beyond our knowledge - really cool stuff. He asked us if there was bad blood between Detroit and Cleveland from the 1908 pennant race. Neither John nor I had much to add to the conversation, so I told him Addie Joss was a hack and left to talk to Jaffe.

Jhon: Yeah, I've read enough to cover little pieces of Tribe folklore, but that was a 100 years ago. Like, actually 100 years ago. Wrigley field wasn't even on the drawing board. But I'm happy to be around other folks who really, really like baseball.

I overheard Jaffe call our setup guys "Stereo Rafi". I loved this remark.

Turk: My favorite comment of the night. Came up in our convo with Jaffe.

Overall, it was a fascinating night. The BP folks are brilliant, personable and much more accessible than one might think. Don't be surprised if we see Jaffe around here... I totally pimped LGT to him and he said he'd try to stop by.

So. Comments? Questions? Sure we forgot something here...

OT: Cavs get Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak

Turkmenbashi — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:45:24 -0000

The Cavs pulled off a three-team trade right before the deadline today that will net them Big Ben and Wally Sckjluhhgfhkhgf with drew Gooden and Larry Hughes going to Chicago and Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall going to Seattle: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3257159

So there's our "big trade." the only question is, does it really make us better? Where's Wallace gonna play with Z and Varajao on the floor? Is Wally a starter? And does this really improve what we need to improve the most: our offense? Plus, we finally manage to get rid of Hughes, yet we pick up both of these guys' giant salaries. Don't know what to make of this yet. thoughts?

Baseball Music?

Turkmenbashi — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:42:15 -0000

Hey all, I was on the STO website this morning when I noticed they have Michael Stanley's "What's up Ohio?" theme song as a free download, which I was pretty pumped about.

That, in addition to the start of ST makes me want to get together a good baseball pump-up playlist for my iPod. Does anybody know of any good baseball songs, or just Cleveland songs in general? (NO "Tessie")

So far, I've got the aforementioned Michael Stanley piece, "Cleveland Rocks," "Centerfield" by John Fogerty, "Burn On" by Randy Newman and the theme song from MLB on Fox.